The Miami Herald
August 28, 2002,
Anthrax Mail May Still Be Inside American Media Offices in Boca Raton, Fla.
Federal investigators believe the anthrax-laden envelope sent last year to American Media Inc. headquarters that killed photo editor Bob Stevens could still be inside the building.
Agents wearing protective gear Tuesday entered the building, which has been under federal quarantine since October, after Stevens was exposed to deadly anthrax spores.
The current theory: investigators re-examining the trail of anthrax spores did not turn up any around or inside trash bins used to remove refuse from the building, a federal source familiar with the case said.
Since trails of spores were found at post offices and routes leading into AMI headquarters, some investigators theorize, spores also should have been found at points leading out of the building.
"It's establishing a trail," said a federal agent involved in the cleanup. "The working theory is the envelope never left the building because no spores were found in the bins used to remove trash from the building." Last year, AMI workers told the FBI that all trash is removed and incinerated.
But now, using new scientific methods to detect anthrax, investigators hope to create a better pattern that details potential anthrax hot spots inside the building. For example: Investigators would divide the AMI building into grids, and then receptacles that detect anthrax spores would be placed within these grids. Chemicals within the receptacles would color up differently based on the level of spores detected.
"The higher the concentration of spores detected would be where we would begin searching for an envelope or package," an investigator said. "This could also help us develop a pattern to determine how the anthrax moved through the building."
Last year, Stevens' co-workers told the FBI that he had opened an envelope for actress Jennifer Lopez that contained a Star of David and some powder -- which co-workers said turned out to be a busted detergent packet. AMI workers said they often received packages for Lopez, a popular actress and singer.
South Florida investigators never found that envelope and could not say for sure it was the envelope used to transmit the anthrax spores. AMI workers told agents they believed the Lopez envelope was incinerated, which is how the publishing house gets rid of its waste.
Agents have also examined the possibility that more than one letter was sent to AMI, but have not been able to support that theory because they don't have an envelope.
Investigators believe it could take one to two weeks to complete their current sweep, but possibly longer.
It's been nearly a year since the anthrax crisis first hit the AMI building, killing Stevens and nearly killing a mailroom employee Ernesto Blanco -- who barely survived the attack.
Since that outbreak in early October, mailings have hit the offices of two network news anchors, both the Senate and House office buildings, and post offices from New Jersey to Boca Raton.
Five people were killed by the anthrax attacks, and federal authorities have focused on the theory that a disgruntled former employee of a U.S. military lab took advantage of the timing of Sept. 11 to begin the anthrax mailings.
Scientists say the anthrax was sent in the form of a powder most likely manufactured by the U.S. military at one of two facilities -- Fort Detrick in Maryland or Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. Federal investigators for months have narrowed their search for suspects to lists of current and former employees.
Among them is Dr. Steven Hatfill, who used to work at the Army's biological weapons defense laboratory at Fort Detrick. They have searched his apartment twice, and have publicly identified him as a "person of interest" among nearly two dozen others. Hatfill lost his security clearance last August.
Hatfill has been adamant about his innocence, and federal authorities have turned up no physical evidence linking him to the crimes.
Some anthrax experts say the FBI most recent incursion into the AMI building is a "prayer." "It's a bright idea, but I don't think they've thought it through all the way," said Martin Hugh-Jones, a Louisiana State professor and one of the nation's leading anthrax experts.
"They've waited 10 months to go back 30 years. The method they are using is notoriously inaccurate," he said.
Hugh-Jones said it would be far more fruitful to just conduct a thorough search for the envelope, just as they checked mail for weeks in several U.S. postal facilities.
The building has been locked down since its evacuation in October, but federal investigators and workers for the EPA were all over it during the initial investigation, finding spores on Stevens' computer keyboard, the mailroom, cabinets -- a total of 84 locations within the building.
"It's been 10 months, God knows how many people have been traipsing through there," Hugh-Jones said. "The more time that goes by, the less likely they are to find anything."
By Manny Garcia and David Kidwell
"...Last year, Stevens' co-workers told the FBI that he had opened an envelope for actress Jennifer Lopez that contained a Star of David and some powder -- which co-workers said turned out to be a busted detergent packet. AMI workers said they often received packages for Lopez, a popular actress and singer. ...